I'm diving back into Linux after taking a break due to frustrations with Windows 11 and my motherboard issues. Initially, I chose Pop!_OS for its ease with NVIDIA drivers, but now that I'm getting my terminal skills back, I'm considering a change to a better-maintained distribution, maybe something like Cachy, Arch-based, or Fedora. My main concern is whether I can install a new OS on my root (/) without needing to format my swap or home partitions, as I have some large games installed that I really don't want to redownload.
3 Answers
If you're looking for alternatives, check out Nobara! It's Fedora-based and has an NVIDIA ISO just like Pop!_OS, which might make the transition smoother for you.
Pop!_OS is actually on a long-term stable update schedule instead of being a rolling release, so it does have a different maintenance roadmap. Just to clarify, you can keep your /home intact when switching, but you might run into some issues if the new distro doesn’t have the applications referenced in your settings.
I recently installed Fedora and I've read that it uses the BTRFS filesystem for /home, which might allow you to switch distros without messing with your home directory. However, I haven't tried it myself. If you do decide to switch, just make sure /home is on its own partition. Personally, I'm looking to switch from Fedora to either Kubuntu or Linux Mint since I’m having driver issues with my RTX 3060 and those options seem more stable for my setup. Good luck with your distro hunt!
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